Spinal Cord Research Centre







Principal Investigators - Areas of Expertise

Full Members - Primary (core)


Brent Fedirchuk, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Physiology; Secondary Member DND
Electrical properties of motoneurons, modulation during locomotion, spinal motor circuitry.

Phillip F. Gardiner, PhD
Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management; Director and Canada Research Chair HLHP Research Institute; Adjunct Professor, Physiology; Secondary Member DND
Adaptations in spinal cord, neuromuscular junction and muscle to alterations in chronic activity levels; adaptability of biophysical, neurochemical and morphological properties of motoneurons.

Larry M. Jordan, Ph.D.
Professor, Physiology; Secondary Member DND
Spinal cord electrophysiology, neuropharmacology, regeneration studies, neural tissue culture, neural stem cells.

Soheila Karimi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Physiology
Spinal cord injury, neural stem/progenitor cells, neural repair and plasticity, glial scar, regenerative medicine.

David A. McCrea, Ph.D.
Professor, Physiology; Director, SCRC
Spinal cord electrophysiology, spinal motor circuitry, pre- and postsynaptic control mechanisms..

Brian J. Schmidt, M.D., FRCPC
Professor, Internal Medicine (Neurology); Adjunct Professor, Physiology
In vitro electrophysiology and neuropharmacology, studies of spinal cord motor pattern generation.

Susan J. Shefchyk, Ph.D.
Professor, Physiology
In vivo and in vitro electrophysiology, neural control of bladder function, reflex mechanisms in the spinal cord, presynaptic inhibition, spinal lesion studies, immunohistochemistry.

Full Members - Secondary


Alan Casey, M.D.
Associate Professor, Internal Medicine, Sect. Rehabilitation Medicine
Physiatry, osteoporosis after spinal cord injury, spasticity.

Karen Ethans, M.D., FRCPC
Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine; Director, SCIU, Physical Med.& Rehab.
Clinical specialist in medical rehabilitation, neuropharmacology, pain, spasticity, neurogenic bladder.

Dean J. Kriellaars, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Med. Rehab.; Director, Human Performance Lab.
Human movement studies, bone density studies, inventor of several devices for use in rehabilitation, development of numerous software packages for rehabilitation research and clinical purposes.

Krisztina L. Malisza, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor, Physiology; Scientific Officer, NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics .
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy. Functional MRI (fMRI) of neurological disorders (stroke and pain) and of the spinal cord.

Brian MacNeil, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, School of Med. Rehab.;
Neuroimmunology, regulation of the sympathetic nervous system, exercise and immune function.

Michelle M. Porter, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management; Director, Neuromuscular Lab (FG Campus).
Physical activity and aging, adaptations of the neuromusuclar system with aging and strength training, contractile and electrical properties of human motor units.

Barbara L. Shay, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Med. Rehab.;
Neural control in movement, motion analysis, effects of descending neurotransmitters and modulation in the spinal cord.

Associate Members - External Adjuncts
(formerly Full Members of SCRC)


Robert M. Brownstone, M.D., Ph.D., FRCSC
UM External Adjunct Professor, Physiology. Aug. 2000 appointed Associate Prof., Dalhousie University; Div. of Neurosurgery.
Neurosurgeon, in vivo and in vitro spinal cord electrophysiology, transplantation, intrathecal drugs, spinal stimulation.

 

Associate Members -
Division of Neurodegenerative Disorders Members


Benedict C. Albensi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Therapeutics; Full Member DND
Experiments at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and whole animal level using techniques such as Western blots, gel shift assays, in vitro electrophysiological recording (eg., LTP measurements), calcium analysis, in vivo MRI, and behavioral testing (Morris water maze).

Christopher M. Anderson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Therapeutics; Full Member DND
Role of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in oxidative cell death, mechanisms of glutamate flux in brain, intercellular communication in brain.

Marc Del Bigio, M.D., Ph.D., FRCPC
Professor, Pathology
Histopathological assessment of brain, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, electron microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, brain water assessment (hydrocephalus), cerebral ischemia.

Paul Fernyhough, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Pharmacology & Therapeutics; Director DND
Diabetic and peripheral neuropathies, cell culture, confocal microscopy, fluorescence imaging, neuronal plasmid transfection, general biochemistry and pharmacology.

Gordon Glazner, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Pharmacology & Therapeutics; Full Member DND
Excitotoxicity, Alzheimer disease, stroke, aging, neuro-protection, signal transduction, gene expression, neurotrophic factors, apoptosis and necrosis.

James I. Nagy, Ph.D.
Professor, Physiology
Neurochemistry, neuroanatomy, biochemistry, cell biology, immunohistochemistry, models of spinal cord and brain injury, gap junction structure and function, CNS inflammatory mechanisms.




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